Incheon --> Gimpo or Seoul --> Gimpo?

January 3, 2011 10:42 AM

We're spending the 1st half of our honeymoon in Jeju-do. We're arriving at Incheon at 3:20pm on a Thursday. Could we get to Gimpo from Incheon in time for a 6:20pm, 7:45pm or 10:30pm flight to Jeju? Or are we better off spending the night in Seoul, then catching a flight from Gimpo the next day?

We're spending a week in Jeju-do for our honeymoon, followed by a week in Seoul (yay!). We'll be in Korea from late April to early May. We're flying from the US on Delta, arriving at Incheon at 3:20pm on a Thursday afternoon. There are 3 Asiana flights from Gimpo to Jeju-do that evening at 6:20pm, 7:45pm and 10:30pm. (We're locked to Asiana because we're using airline miles).

Questions:
- Do we have enough time to get from Incheon to Gimpo for any of those 3 flights? We don't mind going straight from Incheon to Gimpo after we land, but we also don't want to rush ourselves too much after an 18hr flight.

- If we can make it to Gimpo from Incheon, what's the best way? Is the AREX train running now? Should we take an airport bus instead? How much time should we budget?

- Or, is it better to spend the night in Seoul then catch a flight the next day?

Thanks!

posted by yeoja to Travel & Transportation (6 answers total)

This is a very specialized question - I recommend that you ask it over at the Trip Advisor forums, I've found that they are very helpful with questions like this.
posted by echo0720 at 3:08 PM on January 3, 2011

Best answer: AREX trains run every 6 minutes from Incheon to Gimpo and take 50 minutes. Figuring an hour to get your luggage and clear customs and an hour total to wait for and ride the AREX to Gimpo, you'd still get there an hour before a 6:20 flight. But play it safe though, book the 7:45 and avoid the worry of clockwatching.
posted by holterbarbour at 3:40 PM on January 3, 2011

And yes, the AREX second phase just opened within the past two weeks. If you wanted, you could take it straight in to Seoul Station. But if you do decide to stay overnight before flying out to Jeju, don't incur the extra hassle of going into Seoul just for one night. There are a few very nice hotels (Hyatt Regency, e.g.) right by Incheon Airport. Give yourself a break, you just had an 18 hour flight and you're here for a relaxing vacation, yes?
posted by holterbarbour at 3:46 PM on January 3, 2011

I recommend booking the 7:45 and arriving in Jeju that night. I advise against a single night in Seoul--you won't experience the city in any meaningful way, and that first night on the island will be nice.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 7:03 PM on January 3, 2011

I second everyone's recommendation of doing the inter-airport transfer and heading to Jeju the same day. The transfer itself is pretty painless; Gimpo is actually pretty far from central Seoul; and you can get all of your travel done that day and spend the morning relaxing at your hotel.

This is a very specialized question - I recommend that you ask it over at the Trip Advisor forums, I've found that they are very helpful with questions like this.

Just for the benefit of anyone else who happens along this thread: this is not a very specialized question. There are plenty of folks who can give advice regarding connections between airports. A specialized question would be something like comparing mileage redemption rates for three different airlines. That might be more appropriate for somewhere like FlyerTalk, but the OP's question is relatively ordinary.
posted by armage at 4:41 PM on January 4, 2011

Response by poster: Thanks folks! We've decided to take AREX to Gimpo to catch the 7:45pm. That way, we can spend the first night in Jeju-do.
posted by yeoja at 9:00 AM on January 6, 2011